Governance in Pakistan

Hybridism, Political Instability, and Violence

Sagheer Ahmad Khan

This book suggests that Pakistan has been stuck in a transition characterized by countervailing values and attitudes.

A must read for those wishing to understand the governance perspective in Pakistan.

Governance in Pakistan

Hybridism, Political Instability, and Violence

Sagheer Ahmad Khan

Description

This book suggests that Pakistan has been stuck in a transition characterized by countervailing values and attitudes. The countrys governing elite could have led the society to cross the transition threshold through appropriate sociopolitical reforms but, being itself the product of existing social structures, it possesses both an authoritarian tendency as well as a belief in the legitimacy of a rational-democratic order. It is thus constrained by the paradox of practicing authoritarianism while seeking legitimacy in democratic terms.

Furthermore, the task of adjustment between irreconcilable features compels adoption of short-term frameworks of decision-making. This ad hoc governance keeps the state oscillating between the poles of being an effective, resilient state or a failed one.

Governance in Pakistan

Hybridism, Political Instability, and Violence

Sagheer Ahmad Khan

Author Information

Sagheer Ahmad Khan is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. He has previously served as a visiting Lecturer and Research Assistant (in a HEC funded research project) in the department of Politics & IR at the International Islamic University, Islamabad.